No Matter What
by xxdonedirtcheapxx
Summary: Ficlet Series. Life on the run for Rebekah and Klaus after they fled New Orleans in 1919. Now Complete.
1. Ends in Fire

**_This will be a 5-part ficlet series that will take place between 1919 and when Klebekah met Stefan. Hope you enjoy it!_**

* * *

_Fire._

She had hated fire when she was a little girl.

Feared it above almost everything else, except maybe thunderstorms.

It had been the cause of entire villages disintegrating into nothing.

Screams and tears and mourning for the dead.

Her mother would often use her power as a witch to set things on fire.

This was a trick that both fascinated and frightened her at the same time.

As she grew older she had learned she too could manipulate it, just like her mother.

She was new to witchcraft, just coming into her own, when everything changed and her powers were robbed from her forever.

But tonight, on this night, fire was every bit as scary was it was to her when she was a little child.

* * *

_New Orleans. 1919._

"It will be all right, Rebekah."

She could hear her brother's words but they meant nothing to her as she watched the city shrink from view. Her eyes clung to it until it was completely gone.

With it went everything.

Her Marcel.

Her Elijah.

Her home.

"Are you listening to me, sister?" he asked again, when she didn't respond.

She could tell by the tone in his voice that he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was her.

"Elijah, will find us. I am sure of it," he continued on, distracting himself as he drove into the darkness.

"Elijah always finds us," she managed to whisper, turning back around to face out the front of the car.

She reached up and slipped her earrings off, one at a time.

They had been a gift from Marcel. As she stared at them, she burst into a new round of tears. Then the sadness turned to rage and it felt as though the jewelry was burning a hole through her hands. She used all the strength she had to throw them out the window in frustration.

Klaus watched her out of the corner of his eye, trying his best to keep his focus on the road and her all at once. The guilt was weighing so heavy in his gut that he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up.

"Marcel was so happy," she sobbed "I shouldn't have...This is all my fault..."

Klaus scowled, reached over and gripped her shoulder.

"This is all my doing, Rebekah. Since the day I was born, this has been my destiny. To be _hated_. To be _loathed_...Mikael will not stop..."

"I hate him," she whispered "I hate him."

They rode in silence for a few minutes. The sky was sprinkled with a few stars and a full moon to light their way.

He glanced over at her again, the tears now drying on her cheeks, her expression so far away that he knew he might never be able to bring her back from this.

"I did not want this for you," he said at last, although he was not sure if she was listening to him "I did not want you to grow up this way. To be this...this _thing _that we are...It was not the person you were meant to be...That _we all_ were meant to be."

"Well we are, aren't we brother?" she turned to him, stony faced and now somewhat resolved "We are hideous creatures and our father wants us dead. He wants us to burn in hell right along with him and he doesn't care if he has to take entire cities down with us."

Every word out of her mouth was laced with venom, albeit misdirected. He couldn't look into her eyes any longer and turned back to the road.

"If he hurts Elijah..." she began.

"He won't," he assured her.

"He won't hurt us either...I'm not afraid of him."

"That is _precisely_ why Elijah insisted that I take you from the city," Klaus replied sternly "You have always been able to stand up to him Rebekah, but I assure you he would not hesitate to kill you right along with the rest of us."

"I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, Nik," she shot back "Nothing scares me anymore. Mikael won't stop until he kills you...I won't let him. He has taken all that he is going to take from me."

In the midst of all the pain, the loss of Marcel, the temporary loss of Elijah, the mere fact that his sister was resound to protect him comforted him. If only inwardly. This was his battle. His war. He would be damned if he allowed Rebekah to be a casualty of it.

Before long, Rebekah's exhaustion gave way and she fell asleep, wrapped up in Klaus' suit jacket.

Klaus drove on into the night.

_Always and forever_


	2. Shut It Off

Klaus and Rebekah's Christmas in the safe house as referenced earlier this season.

* * *

_Arkansas. Christmas Eve. 1919_

"No that doesn't look right at all, move it to the left...No that's too much!"

Klaus walked into the sitting room of their new home and smiled softly as he watched his sister instruct one of the servants on the proper decorating of their expansive Christmas tree. The last few months had been incredibly lonely for the two of them and he had made sure they had a proper home in time for Christmas. Although by the time the season was over, he feared they would have to leave this place behind as well. He had heard some good things about Chicago.

"Oh never mind! I'll finish it!" Rebekah finally spat exasperated, grabbing the golden star tree topper from the man's hand and ushering him away "Run on to the kitchen and help with the dinner."

"Do you need some help sister?" Klaus kidded as he made his presence known.

"No," she spat back, sliding a chair closer to the tree. She grabbed up a handful of the skirt of her green dress and stepped up onto the chair, leaning over and placing the star on top.

"A little to the right," he smirked.

"Shut up, Nik," she managed to groan, as she re-positioned it until it was to her liking.

She made her way back to the floor and stood back to admire it.

"It's lovely isn't it?" she exhaled.

"I suppose," Klaus shrugged "I've never cared much for trees."

"You've never cared much for anything," she turned and headed to the box of ornaments resting on a table.

"That's not true," Klaus insisted "I rather enjoy a good meal."

"We're not talking about the help, Nik," she rolled her eyes "They are making us a five course dinner for Christmas Eve, don't ruin it by bleeding them dry under the mistletoe."

He chuckled as he watched her continue to decorate. She had managed to find a rather stunning dark green dress in the nearby town, which paled in comparison to their city of New Orleans. Hiding out in the middle of nowhere was not his idea of a good time but once Christmas was over with, they could run again. Chicago had a wonderful music scene and he heard the organized crime ran the city. He would fit right in.

"I wonder what Elijah is doing right now?"

Her words broke him out of his own daydreams and his face fell.

"I don't know," he walked over and picked up a silver ball ornament, looping it onto a branch.

"I hate this," she said in a low shaky voice.

"Elijah is resourceful. He is strong. He _will_ find us."

"Not soon enough," she whispered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Everything will be as it was once more," he sounded rather confident.

"Marcel..."

The mere mention of his name and Klaus felt anger and pain rising up inside of him. It was an inner battle he dealt with every day. Guilt over Elijah. Guilt and heartbreak over uprooting his sister once again. Pain over losing the one he had called son. It was pain that was to hard to bare; to much to carry within him.

"We are not to talk about Marcel anymore," Klaus took her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to look up into his eyes "Marcel is gone...I don't want to hear his name again, do you understand me?"

If it wasn't for the fact that Rebekah knew how devastated he was, she would have gotten angry at the notion that she pretend Marcel never existed. She however knew it was Klaus' only way to deal with pain. Shut if off. Shut it all off and force his mind to believe it to be so. She nodded slowly, shutting her eyes tightly. The last little bit of her that clung to Marcel, breaking away as she too forced herself to shut that part of herself off.

"Now," he let go of her and turned toward the dining room "I believe first course will be served shortly."

She wiped her eyes and followed him to the table. Minutes later, the man brought wine and poured them each a glass.

"A toast," Klaus raised his glass once they were alone again "To Elijah."

"Elijah."

_Merry Christmas little sister._


	3. Salt

_Jekyll Island, Georgia. 1920_

* * *

"But Mr. Mikaelson, it's all that I have. That house is the only thing I have left."

Klaus leaned across the rolltop desk, starting deeply into the middle-aged balding man's eyes. His glasses were drooping down his nose and his hands were shaking violently.

"It _was_ the only thing," Klaus corrected him, "Now, you will sign that deed over to_ me_..."

He slid a document across the table and tossed a pen down on top of it. The man could do nothing but sign. Compulsion was such a useful tool, Klaus marveled.

"It's _Ni_klaus," he corrected the man who shuffled the papers around with nervous fingers "With an N...Yes, that's right."

When the documents were signed, he snatched them from the man's grasp and tucked them into the inside pocket of his dinner jacket.

"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Wells," he smirked, before reaching down and snapping the man's neck.

* * *

Just outside the door of the little seaside cottage they had been staying in for the past week, Klaus found Rebekah sitting on the beach. She was one of few women he knew brave enough to wear trousers. She had the legs of the khaki pants rolled up to her knees and Klaus was pretty sure she had procured one of his white dress shirts. Her hair hung by the side of her face in a braid. She sensed him before she ever saw him.

"Isn't it beautiful Nik?" she gazed at the sunset in front of them in amazement.

The horizon was filled with rich oranges and pinks, dotted with a large white clouds which allowed the last few rays of the sun to penetrate them. If he had any painting supplies, he would no doubt begin the diligent task of painting the sunset before it faded from view. He hadn't touched a brush since they fled New Orleans. Most of his artwork, all of his supplies, burned up in the fire. His most prized possessions, portraits of the family, various artifacts, along with his two enshrined brothers were still in an underground bunker that he had secured many years before. Once they were settled in Chicago, he would send for them.

"It's very nice Rebekah," he sighed, sitting down beside her on the sand.

"Don't you wish life could be like this?" she glanced over at him "So beautiful and peaceful..."

"Not for us," he shook his head, wanting to reaffirm that to her "We were not bred for peace."

"What do you want?" she scowled, when she gauged his mood.

"I just came to tell you I have secured us a home. A grand estate."

He was radiating with pride.

"Here?" she asked, delighted at the thought of spending her days running along these beaches, breathing in the salt air and swimming in the waves.

"No, in Chicago. I told you Rebekah, Chicago is the goal. It is where Elijah will find us. It will be our new home. Our new empire."

"Chicago," she let out a disappointed sigh, standing to her feet and dusting the sand off her trousers.

She walked out toward the ocean, her feet stepping on the wet sand, then into the water. She went out a little deeper, til the water was just hovering below the cuffs of her pants.

"Rebekah!" Klaus scolded her.

"Oh for once in your life Niklaus!" she turned and shouted just as a wave reached her, crashing against her back and drenching her from the shoulders down.

She stood for a second, frozen as the water dripped around her and then she let out a laugh. A carefree, laugh that radiated throughout her whole body that made even Klaus smile.

"You were saying sister?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come on!" she called to him "Get in the water with me!"

"Absolutely not!" he protested "You get out of there."

She walked closer to shore and he walked toward her, removing his dinner jacket with the intentions of putting it around her shoulders to ward off any prying eyes. When she reached him however, she kicked a large splash of water at him, dousing him across the chest and pants.

Another laugh escaped her lips.

Klaus threw down the jacket and with vampire speed rolled up the legs of his trousers and was in the water within seconds chasing her. Once he caught her, far too easily he might add, she laughed even harder. They stood there, staring at out at sea as the waves moved past them and the sun finally went from view. It was only then that Klaus realized he had yet another smile on his lips, which he quickly hid with a squared jaw and stepped away from her. He started moving toward the shore.

"Enough games Rebekah! We have packing to do!"

She stood there for a few minutes, watching her troubled brother collect his jacket and go back inside the cottage. He was desperately hurting, of that she was sure. She was hurting too. She longed for Elijah to be with them right now. He would enjoy this beach. He might even be able to put Klaus at ease. He would enjoy the sun and the sand...

"Rebekah!" Klaus' voice bellowed from the cottage and she finally took her leave of the great Atlantic.


	4. Spider Webs

_Chicago. One Week Later. 1920_

* * *

"You call _this _a grand estate?"

The fire in Rebekah's voice was not unheard of to him. Although she typically reserved such disdain for when he had offed one of her beaus or daggered her for just a few years too long.

He supposed he couldn't really blame her. The townhouse was far from what had been described to him by the banker Wells.

"_This_ is a hovel, Niklaus!" she continued to shriek as she made her way from room to room, each more disappointing than the last.

Dust covered everything, cobwebs and spiders abound. The floors were in serious need of repair and several windows were cracked, one with a baseball size hole.

"It seems our friend Mr. Wells was of the exaggerating sort," he leaned against one of the thinly wallpapered walls "If I hadn't already broken his neck, I would return to Savannah and rip out his heart."

"This is no home!" Rebekah came racing down the staircase from the upper floor "Everything is in such disarray. How am I to make a home of this? Is this what Elijah will come to? This...this _eyesore_?"

The amusement slipped from Klaus' lips and his face grew more serious. He walked toward his distraught sister and held her shoulders between his hands.

"Absolutely not. This home make us land owners in this city, which is all I need to begin my takeover of territory. I will see to that while _you_ will spare no expense renovating this place. Make it as extravagant as you like. When Elijah returns to us, he will be welcomed into a home fit for a Mikaelson."

"So I am to choose wallpaper patterns and chandeliers, while you do what exactly?" she almost pouted, her eyes dancing around the dilapidated sitting room.

"You _dear sister_, will sit back and enjoy the luxury that is provided to you, while I become king of yet _another_ city."

"You're up to something," she raised an eyebrow at him "You are far to happy with the way things are going. Can you not see what a disaster this has started out to be?...It's bad luck, Nik."

"We have been through far worse," he reminded her, turning to gaze out one of the front windows at a couple pushing their newborn along in a stroller.

"Yes, and look at us now," she joined him "Two brothers boxed, one dead mother, a father who wants to murder _us_ and one brother missing in action."

"Oh Rebekah," Klaus groaned, moving away from the window and heading toward the front door.

"Where are you going?"

"I have connections to make, contacts to visit...Do try and do something with the cobwebs while I'm away will you?"

His playfulness returned, as he reached up and allowed a rather large spider to crawl onto his finger before tossing it onto the floor in front of her and going out the door.

"Nik!"she shouted after him.

But all she heard was his pleased laugh as he took off down the street.

* * *

Within one week, Rebekah had totally transformed their home in the city. Lavish rugs and wallpaper. Grand chandeliers. Fine china and crystal in the dining room. She naturally gave herself the largest bedroom, but Klaus did not protest. She even designed a room for Elijah. She compelled an entire wait staff and immediately started throwing grand parties. The guest list was of Klaus' choosing however.

Despite how wonderful the city was, despite the fact she had managed to bury her heartbreak, Rebekah couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was coming.

_And something was._


	5. Speak Easy

_Chicago._

* * *

"And how were the lovely ladies at tea this afternoon?"

Klaus looked up with a smirk over his glass of bourbon as Rebekah entered the room. Over the last year, his sister had tried to her best to fit in with society. She joined all types of social clubs in an effort to make friends and establish her own contacts but she quit them almost as quickly as she joined. She preferred nightclubs over social clubs.

"Painful," she sighed, taking the stylish tan hat off her head and tossing it onto a nearby table.

She slowly began taking the pins out that held her hair style together.

"I don't know why you bother," he flipped through a newspaper on his desk "You know you don't belong there."

She rolled her eyes and sat down exasperated on the sofa. She fidgeted with the laces on her shoes until she could pull them off and propped her legs on a nearby table.

"This whole high society thing...it's beneath you," he continued "You are so much more useful when you're helping me run the business."

Alcohol. Klaus had established the most successful underground business in Chicago. Rebekah helped by seducing and beguiling potential investors. She was excellent with people, particularly men. She was customer relations, in every sense of the word. Sometimes she got a little to close to buyers...but Klaus would always take care of that.

His latest venture was opening a speakeasy of his own with a local witch. Gloria was perhaps the most powerful witch in the whole city. She had a hell of a singing voice and she had a sound business mind. Not only would they have the human population coming in droves to get the finest alcohol and entertainment around, they also had a hold on the supernatural citizens as well.

Tonight was to be the grand opening. Rebekah had been rather mopey as of late and he needed her in fine form to greet and entertain the guests.

He pulled open a drawer on his desk and removed a small box. He stood and walked toward his sister, extending it to her.

"What's this?" she eyed it with suspicion before taking it from him.

"I found it in one of the boxes that was shipped here from New Orleans."

In the months following their escape, Klaus had managed to send for the bodies of his brothers and other possessions he had stored away in the New Orleans bunker. Kol and Finn were now in the attic of their home.

He had caught Rebekah sneaking up there a few times. He knew she wouldn't dare pull out their daggers but he also knew the reason for her visits. They were the only family she could see. They might be gray and lifeless but she knew they were safe. Finn had never really served any real lasting position in her life but she had always been fond of Kol. Their antics had gotten them into a lot of trouble as children and from time to time they would go out on their own over the years to cause mischief.

She opened the box carefully and gasped softly when she saw what was inside. Her freshly manicured fingers traced over the intricacies of the silver jewelry.

"Mother's necklace," she looked up with wide eyes "I thought we lost it years ago."

"So did I, but there it was in an old jewelry box...She gave it to you. It's yours."

Rebekah smiled fondly, standing up immediately for Klaus to place it around her neck. He fumbled with it nervously before securing it in place.

"Do you think it still holds her magic?" she inquired, walking over to a mirror to gaze at her reflection.

The question seemed to hit a nerve with Klaus, who flinched at the thought. His mother was as subject he would rather avoid all together. Her death was a secret he had carried for over nine hundred years. He would have placed no fondness in her at all if not for his sister. He had to show some amount of affection toward their mother's memory. Rebekah still cried over the loss of Esther from time to time. After all these years...

"I don't know," he answered flatly, turning and going back to his desk "Perhaps you can ask Gloria about it tonight."

Klaus went about reading his paper for a few minutes before he noticed his sister was still standing in the same spot, staring into the mirror as if in a trance.

"What?" he sighed, expecting her to begin lamenting about her high society circle or how she wished their mother were alive for afternoon tea.

"He's not coming back, is he?"

He knew immediately who that "he" was and he stood again, closing the distance between them until he was standing behind her looking into the mirror.

"He will return to us," he answered firmly.

"No," she sighed, turning from the mirror and wiping the tears that streaked her face.

"He's not coming back Nik. I can feel it."

"Why must you have so little faith in our brother?" he raised his voice.

"It's not my faith in Elijah!" she turned on him, "I have every faith in the world that if he had the ability he would be standing in this parlor right now! Dressed in the finest tailored suit he could find, helping you with your grand opening...Something has happened to him!"

"What could have possibly happened to Elijah? He is an original!"

"An original means nothing where our father is concerned. He is just as vulnerable against Mikael as we are! And we left him there...to be hunted."

Rebekah sat down on the sofa and covered her face with her hands, exasperated at the thought that she had lured Mikael to town and Elijah had paid the ultimate price for her sin.

"Stop this!" Klaus was growing angrier by the minute "Our father did not murder Elijah! Elijah is too smart to fall into Mikael's traps."

"You did," she quipped "We all did...We were leading a life in New Orleans, you had no idea that Mikael had found us until it was too late."

Klaus flinched at the truth to that statement and sunk down beside her on the sofa. His fingers danced nervously over his knees as he tried to pull himself together; to hold down the rage and regret that flooded within him.

"Elijah _will _return to us," he repeated at last, as if he was trying to convince himself "Now go get ready for tonight. I bought you a new dress. You have to look your best for the guests. Wear it."

Rebekah was more than happy to take her leave of the room and get away from the cloud of realization that had came upon it.

She slowly walked by her bedroom door in her bare feet and made her way to the attic. She climbed the thin stairs that led to the open space and walked across the room to the coffins. It was eerie, even after all this time, all the things she had witnessed in her life. Her brothers boxed and stone cold, sleeping but yet trapped within themselves.

Rebekah lifted the lid to Kol's coffin and sighed. It was her fault Kol was here. She had lured Kol into a trap to be unexpectedly daggered by Klaus.

She lured Kol, just like she lured Klaus to fall into Mikael's trap.

She lightly traced Kol's cheek with the back of her hand and then closed it.

* * *

That night she greeted guests in a stunning red sequin dress. Her hair perfectly curled. Her lips painted to match her dress.

Klaus was dressed in a fine white suit. He kissed hands and nuzzled necks. He beguiled dozens of women, while his sister worked on the men.

Gloria lit up the stage with her presence.

The champagne and liquor flowed. The band was fabulous.

The night was perfect. Despite the fact that Elijah was not there.

Elijah was never there.

* * *

Two nights later, Rebekah met Stefan Salvatore by pure coincidence on the dance floor.

"_Thank you Stefan. I had forgotten what it was like to have a brother."_


	6. Alone : Epilogue

_Epilogue_

* * *

Klaus could never remember a time he had been so physically alone.

Although much of his life he had _felt _alone, he had always had Rebekah.

Finn had been gone so long he barely remembered the sound of his condescending voice. Kol had been boxed for a few years now. It was such a pity that he couldn't be trusted. The trouble they could have gotten into in Chicago would have been endless.

Then there was Elijah. He had not dare admit it to his sister, but he was beginning to think the worst of his brother. Either Elijah had fallen victim to their father or perhaps even worse than that...he had left them. Struck out on his own. Deciding to live a life away from them. Break their oath, sever their bond. He didn't feel anger though, he felt emptiness at the thought of it.

And Rebekah.

His little sister.

He had daggered her before. Every time her heart tugged her into a direction that wasn't his. Every time she made a decision that angered him.

But tonight.

Tonight she had chosen Stefan over him.

No reasoning, no begging, no pleading.

She had been defiant. Firm in her stance that she wanted a life of her own. She was willing to stay behind in Chicago, risk death at the hands of Mikael in order to build some sort of life with Stefan Salvatore.

He had grown fond of their new found companion as well. Never had he felt a bond so quickly.

He trusted Stefan with his life, with Rebekah's life.

None of that changed the fact that they couldn't stay here. That Stefan could no protect Rebekah the way that he had learned to over the centuries.

When he daggered her, this time was different. Usually he was filled with rage, with disappointment. Tonight however, he was filled with great pain. Pain that his last remaining sibling, the one who he secretly valued over the others, would no longer be at his side.

* * *

**I decided to write a little something extra to finish this series. Thanks for reading. I love writing Klebekah so I'm sure there will be more in the future!**


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